WASHINGTON, Pa. (September 26, 2013)—Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) is facilitating a market survey designed to evaluate the feasibility of a business incubator in Washington County.

An online survey has been launched to gauge interest and gain feedback on the needs of the community.

“We want to hear from everyone, even if they think starting an incubator would be a dumb idea,” said Jim Greenwood of Greenwood Consulting Group, the Florida-based consultant hired to conduct the survey.

Greenwood said he is hoping to hear from business owners, future entrepreneurs and the community at large. And while it could create opportunities for students and faculty to launch businesses, he said it is more about building up the community. He added that the survey has recently been expanded to include the Meadow Lands and Southpointe areas.

“W&J really wants this to be a community project, not just a college project,” said Julie Throckmorton, foundation and corporate relations officer at W&J.

The survey takes only a few minutes to complete. After two rounds of polling, if there is interest, he said the next step is to look into the financial viability and the estimated cost to develop an incubator.

“The most immediate benefit an incubator could bring to the area is economic diversity,” Greenwood said. “There would be new activity, things that have not been done before and, as companies graduate, they could potentially add jobs to the area.”

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